Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain

We were supposed to go on a 60+ miler on Saturday morning, but when we got up and got ready to go, it started raining, so we waited and watched the weather map. When it cleared up, we loaded our bikes and drove to Hoover Dam, started unloading our bikes, and it started raining. We got back in the car to wait it out, and it started raining harder. After waiting 20 minutes for the rain to quit (it didn't) we drove home and I planned on doing a short, hard ride around noon, when the idiot weathermen said it would be cleared up. I changed into my bike gear, and got ready to go and it started raining...

You see where I'm going with this by now, I didn't get to ride over the weekend. I did go out yesterday (Tuesday) for a ride in Canal Winchester with Columbus Outdoor Persuits. I took off with the "C" group which is supposed to average 13-16 mph for the ride. I didn't expect the route to be so damn hilly, or windy! I swear I didn't get to go down a hill until about mile 25 of 30, then it was right back up hill again, ok, that's a little bit of an exageration, but it felt that way.

Ok, enough complaining, that ride is going to make me stronger, and I feel good today. I think I'm going to run this afternoon, and go for an interval ride tomorrow before our volleyball game. This weekend, we're going up to Oberlin (SW of Cleveland) for a 70 mile ride called "Roast Your Buns." It should be a lot of fun, and a change of scenery.

30 days until Pelotonia, and I'm at $1307.61 in my fundraising. A very sincere thank you to everyone that has donated! It's like the new LIVESTRONG commercials say... "It's about you!"

Call Me Mr Blue (black and a funny shade of green)

Another triathlon last weekend. This one was the Olympic distance, which is a 1500 meter swim (About a mile), 40K bike (25 miles), 10K run (6.2 miles). I finished under my goal time, but that time was adjusted on Saturday afternoon by about 20 minutes when I got hit in the leg with a wayward drive on the golf course. I have a nice bruise about the size of a softball on my thigh, so I got that going for me... which is not very nice. In addition to what looks like the Northern Lights on my thigh, my tailbone still hurts like hell so getting off the bike to run more difficult than it normally is in a triathlon. I can tell that physically I'm so much stronger than I have ever been though, because endurance wise, I was perfectly fine throughout the whole race. I'm not going to ride or run at all until this weekend to try to give my tailbone a little chance to hopefully recover, because we're riding 62 miles on Saturday, and I want to feel during the ride.

I was only half joking with Jenni yesterday in CVS when I took a couple steps toward the checkout counter with a rubber donut to sit on.

Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.

Sunday's ride wasn't much fun at all after the first hour and a half... Jenni's friends Anthony and Pat joined us for our ride, and it started out to be a really nice ride, but as the miles ticked off, I was growing more and more uncomfortable. I bruised my tailbone playing volleyball last Thursday night, and by mile 25 of the ride, I got a shot of pain with every little crack in the road. I did my best to put as little pressure as possible on my seat, but that just wore my legs out, and by the time we got to the hills, I was dead, but I made it up.

47.5 miles added to the total. Since May I have ridden 396 miles in 25 hours. Even though this wasn't my best ride, and I was hurting, I did it. Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.

On The Road Again

7/5/09- 52 miles, 3 hours 14 minutes, 2 tired legs, and 1 sore "undercarriage". It was a great day to ride, and Jenni and I set out from Alum Creek Beach planning on riding 27 and evaluating where we were going to go from there, because we both were tired. By the middle of the ride, we were feeling a little better so we kept going, and got a nice 52 miles in.

We rode a route with some rolling hills, and averaged 16 mph for the 52 mile ride. Our fastest average, and longest ride to date. It was a great day to ride. It was overcast and 70 degrees when we set off and became partlly cloudy and was 77 when I got off my bike. We really couldn't have asked for more. It was amazing to see how calm the water on the lake was as we rode over it. It looked almost glassy, before the boaters hit the water. I must have been pushing Jenni a little hard because she told me to ride ahead for the last 20 or so miles, so after a little hesitation, I did, and for not wanting to ride fast she only finished 1:30 behind me.

The route included the triathlon route from last weekend, and I'm so glad the skunk was dead on the road this week instead of last. I don't know if I could have handled that smell riding all out like I was last week.

I really try to keep myself hydrated during these long rides, but ran out of water with about 5 miles left on this ride, which wasn't very good, but I had a jug of ice cold water waiting for me in the car. Even after that, I lost 2 lbs of water during the ride. Maybe I should make myself drink every 10 minutes instead of every 15, and make sure there are places to refill my bottles on the ride.

Finishing the ride hot, tired, and sweaty, I couldn't have come into the park at a better time. I rode down the hill just as the ice cream man parked his van in the grass for the Alum Creek beach goers. I don't think anything could have tasted as good as that drumstick right after a long ride like that.